The Dissenter cover image

#659 Nick Chater & Morten Christiansen - The Language Game; Language as a Game of Charades

The Dissenter

00:00

The Meaning of Words

Can we really say that they have a particular meaning each of them? Yeah, this is a good question. So I think our natural instinct from a school is to think, well, everyone has a meaning. But in reality, that's quite wrong. Because words gain their communicative significance by being used in particular contexts. It's only over time we're using a word again and again that the patterns start to emerge. That pattern is always going to be endlessly flexible and changeable.

Play episode from 27:46
Transcript

The AI-powered Podcast Player

Save insights by tapping your headphones, chat with episodes, discover the best highlights - and more!
App store bannerPlay store banner
Get the app